Rule Number 1 of the mercenary handbook: Demand payment before the deed
One should say everyone in the kingdom knew Redhood. The red cape with a smug smile is hard to miss when he just stole your goods. Or your whole carriage. The brown curly hair and the cat like eyes we're displayed perfectly on the bounty sheet with the word WANTED screaming at you at the top of it and hanging on every wall or shop you could find in Londinium. Even the little beauty mark on the left side of his chin was catched. The person who drew him would probably be rewarded by Redhood himself if it wasn't for-
"What the hell is up with that nose?!"
The knife now stuck in place of his nose was deeply lodged inside the tree it was thrown at a mere second ago.
"They never get it right! What is so hard about drawing a button up nose?! I look like I've been punched by a horse hoof!"
Redhood is also a short tempered part time mercenary. That sometimes takes jobs to get rid of creatures troubling villages outside the kingdom's gates. Normally the nonhuman things stay where they came from, rarely passing the borders but lately a vicious creature seemed to have expanded it's hunting area into every village that isn't directly protected under the king and refusing to just stay in the Black Forest. Where he's currently at. So to say screaming around wasn't really the best idea. Redhood couldn't really care any less.
"This is so ridiculous! I came here to hunt some dark creature down not seeing my disfigured face plastered everywhere! Who even put them here? As far as I'm concerned I'm the only one, except some apperently really desperate farmers, to go in here!" He mumbles while looking down at some human bones scattered on the ground.
Walking deeper into the forest Redhood keeps on swearing like a reed sparrow until he sees some big paw prints on the ground leading straight into the (of course) darkest part of the forest. "They said it looked like some kind of big wolf but they didn't say it was that big."
The prints had at least 50 cm width. Judging by that the "Big Bad Wolf" how he named him, was at least 3 m tall. Oh well. It's not like a giant wolf was the worst he was sent to hunt down. No it really wasn't. He would never forget how he had to wash his cape,the only thing he made the effort to clean instead of just burning it and buying a new one, at least a 100th times to get rid of the smell from the Swamp creature that thought vomiting all over him was just the idea. No facing a mutated mutt really wasn't as bad as choking on god knows what was in that brown mud.
Sometimes he hates killing such unique or even ancient creatures but the Swampkalp wasn't one of them.
Following the paw prints he noticed some pieces of bloodied wool scattered around, getting bigger and bigger down the way like some rose petals leading to a romantic dinner with his betrothed. Not charming. "Of course Big Bad Wolfy has no table manners leaving half of it's food behind." But on the other hand it's the flesh he eats not the packaging around it. Point for Wolfie. But also a wolf who steals sheeps from poor farmers for dinner? Come on, a little bit more creativity here.
It couldn't get more stereotypically if it wasn't for the track suddenly ending in the middle of a clearing. Or the sudden horrendously loud growling behind him. Maybe he should call a refund. If he wasn't the one getting payed. And wouldn't get the money until delivering the beast's head. Fucking paranoid villagers.
Redhood stood stock-still only concentrating on the growling thing behind him. Like something snapped the creature suddenly lurges forward with it´s large teeth ready to tear him apart. Redhood turns snatching his hunting knife out of his belt, crouching and aiming for the wolf's stomach. The knife is made out of bones from a creature he fondly calls "Skullcrusher"and just got his hands on last week. The bones are supposed to cut through anything.
Apparently "anything" doesn't apply to the black fur of the giant wolf, based on how it snapped colliding with it. Putting him underneath a snarling wolf that currently tries to rip his throat out.
Next time he definitely demands payment before the deed.
He's contemplating about renaming his Big Bad Wolf into "Demon Wolf" as he's staring into the red glowing eyeballs with the black irises. Not that he's one to talk with his own scarlet eyes.
Maybe investing in some armor next time would also be not such a bad idea judging on how the wolf's teeth just ripped throu his right forearm while he's trying to fend him off with his bare hands.
"FUCK!" He screams pained, rolling sideways aiming to finally escape from this death trap of teeth and the giant legs caging him underneath the monster sadly Big Bad Wolfy isn't dumb and just as the boy crawled out besides his legs he simply takes a step sideways trapping Redhoods cape under his giant paw. Now he's lying face first into the grass not knowing what the hell is going on behind him.
Being fashionable apperently doesn't always help. A mask would've done it but NO he had to go with the bright red cape because he's an attention wh-
"REEHH-hmmpf..."
He just managed to dampen his oncoming screech eith his hands as the giant muzzle came so dangerously close putting it's teeth around his neck, lightly putting pressure as to say "Move and you're done".
Redhood swears he's normally better at his job. More prepared and with a little more information than just "a black wolf looking thing". So how the hell was he supposed to know that not only the wolf was huge and his goddamned new knife was completly useless against it's goddamn fur and the godforsaken mutt was also intelligent? Surely not his fault! Creatures aren't smart, they're always driven by instict.
So it's more than just unsettling that the giant wolf isn't biting down but waiting. Oh god how he hated to be at other peoples mercy. Not alone a mutated furball with the additude of a feral gremlin.
Also he's bleeding out.
"Ahem...so I'm kinda losing alot of blood here so unless you like bloodplay mayyybe you could...you know...fasten the killing up a little bit?" he tries communicating because at this point it wouldn't be really surprising if the thing also understands what he says.
The wolf makes a weird sound. Like a confused grunt.
It's not like Redhood wants to die. But in his kind of career it would be foolish to think he's immortal. Also it's not like he would leave anyone behind. Except his gold coins. OH GOD HIS MONEY, he thinks horrified.
He's starting to get dizzy. He sees his blood seeping more and more into the grass around his arm. His vision gets blurry and his mind hazy but he thinks he can feel the large fangs around his throat tighten up before everthing goes dark.
Oh well.